Riley: Donald Trump Involved With Ponzi Scheme Criminals?
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Was President-elect Donald Trump Involved with Ponzi Scheme criminals? Did Mr. Trump recommend that the perpetrator of the scheme, also loosely tied to Rhode Island, was qualified for US Attorney General or even President of the United States?
Sometimes I feel like an investigative journalist Is living inside of me, just waiting to bust out. I see all kinds of malfeasance among the politically powerful and it makes my skin crawl. I have always hated the abuse of power. This passion started developed in New York about unscrupulous floor traders and really accelerated when I moved to Rhode Island. Due to a series of events deeply affecting my life and psyche I ended up moving my family to Rhode Island in 2003 for an unexpected forced retirement. The PTSD that I still suffer from, because of the World Trade Center attacks, made it impossible to stay in NY. It made me angry, hypersensitive and volatile.
Probably too sensitive for any kind of work and definitely too sensitive for working on Wall Street I evolved to managing money in Rhode Island. I've always had a Spidey sense for fraudsters and I am constantly on the lookout for scams. I knew Bernie Madoff and the hair stood up on the back of my neck when I met him. As one of the early few who questioned his returns, I still couldn’t figure out how to short him. In Rhode Island I tracked down how it was possible that average intelligence mortgage brokers in Rhode Island and across the country were making so much money in 2006 and how they operated, After looking into this I was one of the guys who executed the “big short”.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMy growing sense was that Rhode Island, for whatever reason, was the land of scams and make believe and connected to an amazing amount of criminal behavior. So now, nearly every time I see scams or strange financial misbehavior I can tie it back to Rhode Island. Today Platinum Partners hedge fund and founders were indicted for a $1.3 billion fraud /Ponzi scheme.
The names proffered in the indictment of Platinum Partners were familiar to me and it did not take long to tie these names back to another Fraudster named Scott Rothstein, currently serving 50 years. Rothstein owned two properties in Narragansett that ended up as part of a victim fund. You may even know one of the dozens who also went to jail.
The Testimony
Scott is also the guy I am referring to above as Donald Trump's recommendation for President. Below is the testimony of a co-conspirator Steve Caputi:
Rothstein is now serving a 50-year prison sentence and Caputi was sentenced to five years on a fraud charge.
The homemade video shows billion-dollar Ponzi criminal Scott Rothstein sitting in the back of a limousine on his way to Yankee Stadium, a glass of vodka in his hand, lecturing to several children -- relatives and family friends -- who are attending the baseball game with him.
"Here's one thing you should learn about me that's really important, everybody pays attention," Rothstein said. "If you are going to attack me in any fashion, be prepared for the counter-attack and understand that I duel with people much much smarter than you every day. Understand that the repercussions of engaging me could open the gates of hell. Understand that I am capable of evil far beyond anything your imagination could ever conjure up."
A voice from behind the camera pipes up: "I can verify this as actual fact."
The voice is that of Steve Caputi, a partner with Rothstein in the Café Iguana nightclub in Pembroke Pines and one of his closest friends
"He said, 'Listen, Trump operates the same way, the politicians operate the same way, when there's a problem you fix it," he said. "Sometimes you go outside the rules. Everybody does it, that's how it's done. That's how you get to the top."
And Caputi rode along as Rothstein's meteoric rise began until both of them were hobnobbing with Donald Trump at his Mar-A-Lago estate. He said Trump was one of Rothstein's idols and Trump returned the respect in a big way one night at an event at the lavish Palm Beach spread.
"Donald Trump puts his arm around Scott and says, 'You know, people you're looking at probably the next United States Attorney General,'" Caputi said. "And Scott's trying to look all modest, and Arlen Specter chirps in and says, 'Maybe someday a president of the United States.' And the whole room explodes with applause like the floor of a convention."
Then there is the connection with NY Mayor de Blasio.
So let’s get to it all you real investigative reporters. Follow the money.
Michael G. Riley is vice chair at Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, and is managing member and founder of Coastal Management Group, LLC. Riley has 35 years of experience in the financial industry, having managed divisions of PaineWebber, LETCO, and TD Securities (TD Bank). He has been quoted in Barron’s, Wall Street Transcript, NY Post, and various other print media and also appeared on NBC News, Yahoo TV, and CNBC.
Related Slideshow: Trump’s Win - What Does it Mean for Rhode Island?
Related Articles
- Riley: RI Pension Shortfall Far Outweighs Budget Surplus
- Riley: Elorza - Providence Has Plan to Make Pension Payment on Time
- Riley: Magaziner Drowning in Raimondo’s Hedge Funds Gone Wild
- Riley: Pension Assets Valuation Scam, Elorza Style
- Riley: No Need for Commission
- Riley: Magaziner & Elorza Pension Assumptions Ridiculed by Special Master Feinberg
- Riley: Magaziner Throws Raimondo Under the Bus
- Riley: Dear SEC, Say Hello to Mayor Elorza & Governor Raimondo
- Riley: Wainwright Issues Cash Flow Report That Points to Providence Asset Fraud
- Riley: Default, Theft, and Renewed Call for SEC Providence Pension Investigation
- Riley: Puerto Rico and Providence on My Mind
- Riley: Time to Ditch Hedge Fund Strategy
- Riley: Brexit Slams RI Pension Funds
- Riley: Outside Forensic Audit Will Show Providence Financial Lies
- Riley: Time to End Politics in the Rhode Island Treasury
- Riley: Will Trump’s SEC Chair Go After Misleading Mayors?
- Riley: Raimondo’s Biggest Problem is Providence
- Riley: Did Stock Market Rally Under Trump Help Rhode Island?
- Riley: More Providence Pension Abuse of Public Employees
- Riley: Close, But No Cigar for Providence
- Riley: A New Low Cost Strategy for Treasurer Magaziner
- Riley: Providence in Big Trouble - Pension Plan Assets Lowest Since 2007
- Riley: Did Smiley Use Bankruptcy Threat to Get Grant, Proving Prov is Lying?
- Riley: Lousy Pension Returns Put One More Nail in Providence Coffin
- Riley: Investment Fee Abuse in Rhode Island Public & Private Investments